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1[[quoteright:251:[[Webcomic/PennyArcade https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s_Go_With_That_6335.jpg]]]]
2[-[[caption-width-right:251:[[{{Fetish}} Giraffes. He was talking about giraffes.]]]]-]
3->'''Abe Simpson:''' ''[talking to his gun]'' You're the bee's knees, baby. I missed you bad.\
4'''Marge Simpson:''' Were you talking to me, Grandpa?\
5'''Abe Simpson:''' Um... yes.
6-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two]]"
7
8Alice has been acting suspicious. Bob knows she's up to something, watches her, and... [[AreYouPonderingWhatImPondering comes to the wrong conclusion]]. He confronts Alice with what he thinks he knows, and Alice, to keep him from discovering her real secret, lets Bob think he got it right. May lead to a MaintainTheLie to keep Bob from catching on.
9
10Sometimes Bob confronts Alice with a vague phrase like "I know your secret", and [[OneDialogueTwoConversations each of them thinks the other is talking about something different]] until Bob (it's always Bob) comes right out and says what he thinks the secret is.
11
12And sometimes it's not relating to a secret at all; Bob, for whatever reason, has just got completely the wrong idea about what's going on and Alice just doesn't have the time, energy or patience required to correct him, either because events are too complex to summarise and/or because she knows Bob is simply too dense to understand it. Alice therefore decides it's just quicker and easier for everyone if she goes along with it and lets Bob continue believing his skewed perspective on things.
13
14SubTrope of EntertaininglyWrong. Compare BaitAndSwitchAccusation and HeyWait (both tropes where someone appeared to catch the character red-handed, but actually noticed some other trivial thing) and EmbarrassingCoverUp (the character "admits" some other explanation for the suspicious behavior).
15
16This can also be used by a quick thinker trying to convince someone to do something: simply let ''them'' come up with what they want out of it, and lie, affirming that that very thing ''will'' be in store for them if they come along.
17
18If this manifests out-of-universe, such as a work's author replying to [[WildMassGuessing fan speculation]] with a "sure, let's go with that" and making it {{canon}}, see AscendedFanon.
19
20Compare BaitAndSwitchAccusation, IMeantToDoThat or, in a different direction, ThrowItIn.
21----
22!!Examples:
23[[index]]
24* SureLetsGoWithThat/AnimeAndManga
25* SureLetsGoWithThat/FanWorks
26* SureLetsGoWithThat/WesternAnimation
27[[/index]]
28
29[[foldercontrol]]
30[[folder:Advertising]]
31* In a series of Twix commercials, a man lies to a woman to get her to come home with him. When they get to his place, it's a mess.
32-->'''Man:''' I've been robbed!\
33'''Woman:''' And they trashed your place!\
34'''Man:''' ''That'' is what happened.
35* An advert for The Yellow Pages has a man come home to find a woman inside his house. She tells him he's been burgled. Cut to a flashback demonstrating he simply left his home in that state. He invokes this trope then surreptitiously uses the yellow pages to find a cleaner.
36[[/folder]]
37
38[[folder:Comic Books]]
39* In ''ComicBook/TheGoon'', federal agents have been investigating the ties between the titular character and his boss, the infamous and secretive mobster Labrazzio, in whose name The Goon has been controlling crime in the city Eventually, the agents discover a tombstone with Labrazzio's name on it, and, recalling the Goon's story about how Labrazzio once hid out at the freakshow where the Goon grew up and took him in when his aunt was killed due to being caught in a shootout with men after Labrazzio, confront the Goon with their realisation that the Goon must have created the grave as a fake to throw people off of Labrazzio's scent. The Goon invokes this trope while making plans to destroy the tombstone, lest someone smarter figure out how things ''really'' happened. [[spoiler:Namely, enraged by Labrazzio's callous dismissal of his beloved aunt's accidental death, the Goon attacked Labrazzio and killed him by beating his brains out with a rock. He buried Labrazzio, then stole the gangster's "favor diary" and claimed to be Labrazzio's new #1 in order to [[DragonAscendant steal Labrazzio's place without anyone being the wiser]].]]
40* ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'': When the School Board bus drives through the wall, Skinner and Chalmers think it is an official surprise inspection, and the passengers (retirees who stole and crashed the bus) go along with the charade and end up firing Chalmers, promoting Skinner, and hiring Homer as the new principal after observing how tough he is on Bart despite having no actual authority to do any of that.
41* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': How Peter gets out of most situations when a disaster turns up and he simply has to leave the scene only to have Spider-Man show up a few seconds later.
42-->'''Harry:''' Parker!\
43'''Spider-Man:''' What?\
44'''Harry:''' You were the call Peter made on his cell phone. That's how you knew we were on our way to see Raxton! That's why you are out here.\
45'''Spider-Man:''' Sssure. Let's go with that.
46* ''ComicBook/ScoobyDooTeamUp'':
47** Fred notices that he and his friends "were just watching a concert by the '''singing''' Impossibles, and now the '''superhero''' Impossibles show up to save the day!" He says "that can only mean one thing": the superhero Impossibles are also fans of the singing Impossibles. Fluid-Man plays along.
48--->'''Fluid-Man:''' Uh... yes. Sure. We're, uh, fans.
49** In "Out of this World", once [[spoiler:the names of the ComicBook/MartianManhunter and his alien friends are cleared,]] the Persons in Plaid explain [[spoiler:the aliens they "captured" were just taken to safety and would have explained it to the others earlier but fell asleep. It was a telepathy-induced sleep but the aliens who caused this decided to hide this fact]].
50--->'''[[spoiler:The Son of Saturn]]:''' [[spoiler:Oh... yes. Um... sleep. You really should... go to bed earlier at night]].
51* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': While Tim Drake is usually pretty good at coming up with excuses, when someone hands one to him he'll happily use it. When the Elevator operator from his new building assumed he was at a strange production at the old opera house because his girlfriend had been invited there Tim was happy to say yes even though Stephanie Brown hadn't told him about the invite because otherwise he'd have to come up with another reason to be in a condemned section of Gotham.
52* ''ComicBook/TheSimpsonsFuturamaCrossoverCrisis'':
53** Bender is mistaken by Lenny, Carl, and Moe to be a guy in a robot suit who's also the new Duff mascot:
54--->'''Bender:''' Would I get more free beer if I '''am'''?\
55'''Moe:''' Sure, I'd just bill the company.\
56'''Bender:''' Then that's '''me''', all right! The new mascot guy, spreading alcohol-fueled love and peace. Now, pour me a beer or I'll tear your arms off, jerk-wad!
57** When Skinner spots Fry hiding in some bushes next to the school, the principal asks him if he's the new teacher he's been waiting for, adding that he'll call the police if that's not the case. Fry plays along and pretends to be the new teacher.
58** Leela meets Lisa when the latter is being bullied, leading to this exchange:
59--->'''Leela:''' Why do you let them push you around?\
60'''Lisa:''' Oh right! I just '''let''' them! What are you, the new '''guidance counselor'''?\
61'''Leela:''' If you say so. I'm [sic] mean, yes, I suppose I am.
62** After Bart betrays the Planet Express crew to the fictional characters invading New New York, [[WhatTheHellHero Marge angrily tells him that she's very disappointed in him]]. However, Lisa disagrees with her:
63--->'''Lisa:''' No, Mom! Bart freed us the only way possible! At least we now have a '''chance''' to help everyone else! Good '''plan''', Bart!\
64'''Bart:''' ''[smiling nervously]'' Um...yeah. That was the '''plan''' all right!
65[[/folder]]
66
67[[folder:Comic Strips]]
68* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'':
69** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1997/08/22 A woman at a park called Jon "Disgusting"]]. Jon and Garfield each claimed she was talking about the other. When Jon suggested she was talking about herself, Garfield said "Let's go with that".
70** [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/05/19 Friday night and the phone didn't ring.]] Jon believed the ringer to be busted and Garfield said "Right, sure, yeah, we'll run with that".
71[[/folder]]
72
73[[folder:Films — Animated]]
74* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'', when Fiona seems to be terrified because nightfall is upon them, Donkey exclaims: "Wait a minute, I know what's going on here! You're afraid of the dark, aren't you?". Fiona agrees that that's the case, when the truth is [[spoiler:that she turns into an ogre by night]].
75* ''Franchise/TheIncredibles'':
76** In the [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1 first movie]], Helen tells Bob how much it means to her that he's been working hard to support their family despite finding his job frustrating and missing being a superhero. She doesn't know that Bob actually blew his cover and was fired that day. As Bob hesitantly tries to explain, Helen then comes to the mistaken conclusion that he was promoted and [[ObliviousGuiltSlinging praises him for it, and Bob can't bring himself to correct her]] and decides to go with it. So he accepts the mysterious job offer from Mirage, lying to Helen that his job actually promoted him and sent him to a conference.
77--->'''Helen:''' I know you miss being a hero, and your job is frustrating. And I just want you to know how much it means to me that you stay at it anyway.\
78'''Bob:''' Honey? About the job?\
79'''Helen:''' What?\
80'''Bob:''' Something’s happened.\
81'''Helen:''' What?\
82'''Bob:''' The, uh... The company is sending me to, uh, a conference.\
83'''Helen:''' A conference?\
84'''Bob:''' Out of town. And I’m just gonna be gone for a few days.\
85'''Helen:''' They’ve never sent you to a conference before.....This is good, isn’t it?\
86'''Bob:''' [''hesitantly''] Yes.\
87'''Helen:''' You see? They’re finally recognizing your talents, you’re moving up!\
88'''Bob:''' Yes.\
89'''Helen:''' Honey! Awww...This is wonderful!\
90'''Bob:''' Yes, it is.
91** The DVD short ''WesternAnimation/JackJackAttack'', this is the reason Syndrome managed to get his hands on Jack-Jack.
92--->'''Syndrome:''' Is this the... Parr's residence?\
93'''[[BadlyBatteredBabysitter Kari]]:''' [[SanitySlippage HA-HA! YES! I'M KARI, THE BABY]] ''([[TwitchyEye eye twitch]])'' SITTER!\
94'''Syndrome:''' Uh... Hello, Kari... I'm, ah...\
95'''Kari:''' YOU'RE MY REPLACEMENT! THANK HEAVENS YOU'VE COME! ''(beat)'' ...What does the "S" stand for?\
96'''Syndrome:''' ''(fumbling)'' For... "sitter"! Yeah, sitter. Originally I was going to have the initials for "Babysitter", but...then I'd be going around wearing a big "BS", and ''(chuckle)'' you understand why I couldn't go with that.\
97''(cut to Kari telling the story to Agent Dicker)''\
98'''Dicker:''' [[LampshadeHanging And you believed him?]]\
99'''Kari:''' [[ExhaustionInducedIdiocy THE BABY WAS EXPLODING!]]
100* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'', the Joker asks [[spoiler:[[Franchise/TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]]]] the location of the Batcave, which is located under Wayne Manor. This leads Joker to the conclusion that Bruce Wayne is Batman...[[ComicallyMissingThePoint 's roommate]], to which [[spoiler:Sauron]] can only say "Uh...yeah.".
101* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'':
102** When Emmet is discovered by Wyldstyle [[spoiler:to have found the Piece of Resistance]], the following exchange takes place:
103--->'''Wyldstyle:''' You're the Special! {{The prophecy}} states that you are the most important person ''in the universe''. That's you, right?\
104'''Emmet:''' Uhh...yes.
105** Also used when Emmet is told that the Kragle [[spoiler:might explode]] when paired with the Piece of Resistance. He quickly identifies the corollary: [[spoiler:that it might ''not'' explode.]] Vitruvius responds with the trope.
106* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' when Randall is accused by Mike of being at fault for allowing Boo to enter the Monster World because he was attempting to cheat his way to breaking the Scare Record, Randall is initially indignant before suddenly calming down and goes along with Mike's assumption and offering to help Mike return Boo to her door. [[spoiler:In reality he was planning on using Boo as a test subject for the Scream Extractor which he hopes will revolutionise the Scaring Industry and only offers to help Mike so he could finally capture her. When he ends up catching Mike instead, he no longer bothers with the pretence and simply tries to use the Scream Extractor to torture the information out of him]].
107* ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'': [[spoiler:After Flik's plan to scare Hopper and his gang away with a fake bird fails, Hopper attempts to kill him before he spots the ''real'' bird, and Flik lets him believe it's fake to lure him to his own demise]].
108-->'''Hopper:''' [[spoiler:Well, what's this? Another one of your little bird tricks?]]\
109'''Flik:''' Yep.\
110'''Hopper:''' [[spoiler:Are there a bunch of little girls in this one, too? ''Hello, girls!'']]
111* In ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania3SummerVacation'', Mavis somewhat overhears Drac using his smartphone to try to find a date, but doesn't really catch the gist of it. When she finds him, though, she does realize that he's hiding something from her and comes to the conclusion that he's stressed and needs a break. Drac happily seizes upon this excuse, saying that it's exactly the case.
112* In ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'', when Marlin and the incredibly scatter-brained and forgetful Dory find themselves in pitch black darkness:
113-->'''Marlin:''' Dory, do you see anything?\
114'''Dory:''' AAHHHH! Something's got me!\
115'''Marlin:''' That was me! I'm sorry.\
116'''Dory:''' ''[{{Gasp}}!]'' Who's that?\
117'''Marlin:''' ''[Exasperated]'' Who's that?! Who could it ''be''?! It's me!\
118'''Dory:''' Are... are you my conscience?\
119'''Marlin:''' ''[Sigh]'' Uh, yep, yep, I'm your conscience. We haven't spoken in a while. How are you?\
120'''Dory:''' Eh. Can't complain.\
121'''Marlin:''' Hmm. Good.
122* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Mei tells her parents "When I start to get emotional I imagine the people I love most in the whole world.". When she sees her mother react as if Mei was referring to her parents, she decides to validate it instead of clarifying that she meant her friends.
123[[/folder]]
124
125[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
126* In ''Film/AmericanBeauty'', Ricky Fitz's authoritative (and homophobic) dad sees Ricky through the window giving his neighbor some weed. From his vantage point, it looked like Ricky was giving him oral sex, and looking through some of Ricky's recorded videos of his neighbor working out, he had suspicions that Ricky was gay. When he confronted Ricky about his homosexuality (Ricky is actually straight), Ricky admitted to giving oral sex for money because it was better than his father finding out he was selling drugs. [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Either that]] or [[CallingTheOldManOut he had just had enough of his dad's crap.]]
127* In ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'', when Marty first meets his future mother Lorraine in 1955, she thinks he's called "[[ImMrFuturePopCultureReference Calvin Klein]]" since [[LineOfSightName it's written on his underwear]]. Marty tries to correct her, but goes along with it to avoid arousing suspicion.
128* In ''Film/{{Descendants}}'', Ben assumes Mal only used the love potion because she had a crush on him and was afraid of being rejected. Not wanting to admit she's planning to use him to steal Fairy Godmother's wand, she allows him to think he's right.
129* ''Film/TheEigerSanction''. [[Creator/ClintEastwood Hemlock]] is an assassin sent on a climbing expedition because one of them is believed to be TheMole, but they don't know who. When he's the SoleSurvivor after the expedition goes wrong, his superior assumes he decided to kill everyone, and congratulates Hemlock on this unique solution. Meanwhile Hemlock already discovered that the mole was his friend on the expedition's support team. As his friend just saved his life, he decides not to argue.
130* In another Creator/ClintEastwood movie ''Film/CityHeat'', his character Lieutenant Speer tells a mobster he doesn't want to see his "ilk" hanging around. The mobster thinks he means an elk.
131-->'''Lt. Speer:''' Yeah. Now if I catch you loitering around my precinct again I'm gonna shoot me an ilk, do you understand?
132* In ''Film/GalaxyQuest'', the ship's been damaged and the Thermians suggest a workaround to get the ship to the nearest planet with what they need for repairs. Jason, clearly not understanding a word of the technobabble, but trying to maintain the image of a real [[TheCaptain Commander]] just goes with it.
133-->'''Fred Kwan:''' Hey, Commander. Listen, we found some beryllium on a nearby planet. And we might be able to get there if we reconfigure the solar matrix in parallel for endothermic propulsion. What'd'ya think?\
134'''Jason Nesmith:''' We'll do that!
135* Inverted in ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'':
136-->'''Winston:''' Ray, when someone asks you if you are a god, you say "YES!"
137* In ''Film/TheGreenHornet'', the villain wears a gas mask simply to look scary. [[spoiler:It ends up coming handy when Hornet surprises him with knockout gas, and he proclaims himself ungassable, attempting to suggest that he had worn the mask for its practicality all along.]]
138* An interesting variation occurs in ''Film/HomeAlone1'', where Kevin tells a man dressed in a Santa suit "I'm old enough to know you're not the real Santa Claus, but I also know that you work for him." The Santa actor just goes with it.
139* In ''Film/LaughterInParadise'', Captain Russell is attempting to explain to his fiancée and her father that he needs to postpone the wedding for a month. However, [[OnOneCondition the conditions of his cousin's will forbid from explaining why]]. His evasive answers give his fiancée and her father the impression that he has to go abroad to undertake a secret mission for the government. Russell decides to roll with it. This comes back to bite him when his fiancée runs into him several days later, still in London, and seemingly attempting to rob a jewellery store (ItMakesSenseInContext).
140* ''Film/LoveActually'': When David goes to the Christmas pageant to pursue his secret relationship with Natalie, he runs into his sister there, as her kids are in the show. She talks about how surprised she is that he got the message she left with his secretary asking if he could attend the show, and David acts like that is the reason he's there.
141* In ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'', Aurora mistakes Maleficent for her FairyGodmother. Despite being [[FlatWhat put out by the idea]], Maleficent simply rolls her eyes and says nothing since Aurora's still calling her that years later.
142* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
143** In ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'', Tony offers to promote Peter to a full-time Avenger after he stops the Vulture, stating that he has a press announcement prepared for it. Peter turns down the offer, deciding that he needs to focus on saving the neighborhood and assumes that it's a SecretTestOfCharacter to make sure Peter understands that he is not yet ready to be an Avenger, but perhaps someday. Tony confirms it to be such to Peter, but Pepper then bursts out of the press conference room demanding answers once Peter leaves, meaning that Tony meant it when he offered to make Peter an Avenger.
144** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'', Yondu holds on to his arrow to slow his descent from an exploding spaceship. Peter, with an [[JetPack "aero-rig"]], is accompanying him.
145--->'''Peter:''' Ha! You look like Film/MaryPoppins.\
146'''Yondu:''' Is he cool?\
147'''Peter:''' Hell yeah, ''he's'' cool.\
148'''Yondu:''' I'm Mary Poppins, y'all!
149** In ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}'', ComicBook/NickFury refuses to explain how he lost his left eye, but makes no effort to dispute the rumor Agent Coulson's heard -- he was tortured by [[spoiler:the Kree]] for refusing to reveal the location of the MacGuffin. In fact, [[spoiler:the eye was scratched out by an AnimalisticAbomination he [[CutenessProximity could not stop fawning over]]]].
150* ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'': Kermit has rejected Doc Hopper's offer to be the spokesfrog for his chain of "French Fried Frog Legs" restaurants and is walking back to the car.
151-->'''Fozzie:''' (looking at the money) Five hundred dollars? Would you consider a bear in a frog suit?\
152'''Kermit:''' Fozzie!\
153'''Fozzie:''' I'm sorry, sir, I just lost my head. (They drive off)\
154'''Doc Hopper:''' Wait a minute, Mr. Frog. Everything's negotiable!
155* In ''Film/TheMuppets2011'', Kermit the Frog gets three surprise volunteers to help out with the Muppet Telethon. None of them are particularly passionate about their involvement, but Kermit wisely takes all the help he can get.
156-->'''Creator/WhoopiGoldberg:''' Hi. I was told there was a career opportunity here, something about saving a theater?\
157'''Music/SelenaGomez:''' I don't know who you guys are. My agent just told me to show up.\
158'''[[Series/ModernFamily Rico Rodriguez]]:''' Are you one of the Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles?\
159'''Kermit:''' ...Yes, I am, and let me show you how you can help!
160* In ''Film/MyFavoriteMartian'', when Tim tries to tell Ms. Brown that his visitor is a Martian, she mishears it as "Martin". The Martian jumps on that mistake as his alias and further turns Tim's stuttering ("uh-uh-") into "uncle". Thus, Uncle Martin.
161* In ''Film/TheNewGuy'', Danielle confronts "Gil" (AKA a post-{{makeover|Montage}} Dizzy) with "I'm onto you". He thinks that she's talking about his previous identity as his last school's ButtMonkey. She thinks that he's actually a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. He decides to play along with that.
162* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
163** In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', Obi-Wan Kenobi heads to the planet Kamino to investigate a bounty hunter. The Kaminoans instead think he's been sent by the Jedi Council to inspect the clone army they've been creating under the orders of one Master Sifo-Dyas, and Obi-Wan decides to play along.
164--->'''President Lama Su:''' But you must be anxious to inspect the units for yourself?\
165'''Obi-Wan:''' That's... why I'm here.
166** In ''Film/RogueOne'', shortly after the skirmish on Jedha, K-2SO (a reprogrammed Imperial droid) is asked by a stormtrooper what he is doing.
167--->'''Stormtrooper:''' Where are you taking these prisoners?\
168'''K-2SO:''' These are prisoners?\
169'''Stormtrooper:''' Yes. Where are you taking them?\
170'''K-2SO:''' I'm taking them to imprison them... [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment in prison]].\
171'''Cassian:''' He's taking us to–\
172''[K-2SO slaps Cassian with his metal hand]''\
173'''K-2SO:''' Quiet! And there's fresh one if you mouth off again.
174* ''Film/WereNoAngels'' (1989): When Jimmy introduces himself and Ned to Mrs. Blair with [[AsTheGoodBookSays a biblical quote about being kind to strangers]], she asks if they're priests in town for a major ceremony. Ned and Jimmy quickly say that they are.
175* In ''Film/WhatWomenWant'', Nick Marshall is at one point confronted by Lola who claims to know the secret why he's so understanding of women: he's gay! In reality, it's because he can read the minds of women. Nick goes along with the story, mostly because Lola's thoughts reveal that a rejection from Nick would support her fears that she was undesirable and ruin her self-esteem.
176[[/folder]]
177
178[[folder:Literature]]
179* In one of Robert Asprin's ''Literature/{{Myth|Adventures}}'' books, Don Bruce, a Mob boss, comes to see Skeeve, who has been quietly sabotaging Mob operations, and says he knows Skeeve is the reason the Mob hasn't succeeded in moving into the dimension of Deva. He lists the evidence: Skeeve knows the territory, has connections on Deva, etc. His conclusion? They should have hired Skeeve to work for them in the first place. This echoes an earlier scene in which the Devan Merchants' Association hires Skeeve to defend them from the Mob, not knowing he was the one who originally brought the Mob to Deva. To cover up the truth, Skeeve agrees to work for both sides, so he has to maintain a balance between working for the Mob and limiting Mob activity on Deva. He then spends years being paid by both sides and doing ''nothing''.
180* ''Literature/{{Leviathan}}'' has Deryn Sharp, who is a British Air Service midshipman [[SweetPollyOliver and a young woman disguised as a man]]. When Dr. Barlow [[SherlockScan notices something unusual about Deryn's shaving]], she concludes Deryn joined up [[ChildSoldiers too young]], and this happens. Deryn actually was too young as well.
181* Franchise/StarWarsLegends:
182** Discussed in [[Literature/XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]], where Wedge and his pilots are acting as ambassadors to the [[ProudWarriorRace Adumari]]. The Adumari are so glory-obsessed that they insist on every training exercise being live-fire, to often-fatal results. Wedge finds this barbaric and is only willing to participate with simulated fire, but also isn’t sure how to announce this without insulting the Adumari. He goes over the dilemma with his pilots, at which point Hobbie points out a solution:
183--->'''Hobbie:''' Oh, that's simple. Do to them what you do to us at times like that.\
184'''Wedge:''' ''[frowns]'' What do you mean?\
185'''Hobbie:''' Tell them ''what'' you're doing but not ''why''. Then let them speculate. Listen to them as they speculate. When they come up with an idea you really, really like, tell them "You finally guessed right. That was my reasoning all along."\
186'''Wedge:''' I don't do that. Much.\
187'''Hobbie:''' All the time, boss.
188** In ''Literature/StarWarsAllegiance'', five stormtroopers end up as fugitives from the Empire, but still consider themselves Imperials, remembering the oath they made to protect citizens of the Empire. When they stop at a spaceport on an out-of-the-way world and the local authorities fine them needlessly and confiscate their speeder bikes, they snoop around and find that the local authorities are very corrupt, confiscating weapons from the citizens, shooting protesters, and milking money from anyone and everyone. The local citizens aren't allowed to petition higher authorities and can't do much themselves, since they don't have blasters. So the [[BadassCrew stormtroopers]] take care of that problem for them. The locals are pleased, and believe the stormtroopers were sent officially.
189--->'''Atmino:''' You get back your bait all right?\
190'''[=LaRone=]:''' Our what?\
191'''Atmino:''' The speeder bikes. You ''were'' just dangling them out there so that Cav'Saran would pull that illegal confiscation, right?\
192'''[=LaRone=]:''' ''[inwardly]'' It was amazing sometimes how hindsight enabled people to jump to such incredibly wrong conclusions. ''[out loud]'' Of course.
193* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
194** Vimes (and a few other Watchmen) play this line when someone takes a guess at the identity of the Watch's famous werewolf, and usually they guess it's Nobby. (They're wrong.) The reason they make this assumption is that Nobby is so strange-looking he has to carry around a certificate proving he's human.
195--->'''Sergeant Angua[[labelnote:*]]the actual werewolf[[/labelnote]]:''' Your deductive abilities will be the talk of the station.
196** In ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'', when Granny Weatherwax is doctoring a guy with a bad back, she tells him to sleep with a pine board under his mattress. He asks if this is so the knots in his back end up in the wood, and she agrees, since folk gibberish placebos are an important part of her treatments.
197* Miles in Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's Literature/VorkosiganSaga is the king of this. He just keeps letting people assume things about him, and pretty soon, he has his own mercenary army.
198* Literature/PercyJackson guesses that Thalia Grace freaked out while driving the sun-chariot because her mom died in a car crash. Thalia lets it ride because it's better than admitting the daughter of Zeus, god of the Sky, is afraid of heights.
199* In ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'', when main character David takes Amy back to his place, they discover someone has broken in, searching for his [[PsychoSerum Soy Sauce]]. It takes him a while to realize, though, because his place is [[TrashOfTheTitans normally such a mess]]. When David mentions the break-in, Amy says "They threw laundry all over the floor!" David responds "Yeah and they wore them first! The bastards!"
200* ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'': Vin pulls this when [[spoiler:Kliss]] assumes she's been trying to drive a certain house into bankruptcy so House Renoux can corner the weapons market...when Vin is really part of a conspiracy to throw the city into civil war and overthrow the Lord Ruler.
201* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': When MadScientist Hasina rescued Annala in ''Literature/LoomingShadow'' she says didn't arrive earlier because she had to "close up her work first". When Annala asks if that means she was engaged in lawful surgery on a client, Hasina grins and recites the trope.
202* In Literature/{{Honorverse}} Mike Henke derails at least one of the [[spoiler:[[AncientConspiracy Mesan Alignment's]]]] [[EvilPlan schemes]] by this. By that point [[spoiler:the Alignment]] has long been manipulating the protagonists' nation of Manticore into the war with the [[TheFederation Solarian League]], the ancient, vast and incredibly corrupt nation containing most of the Humanity's population. Naturally, they assumed that the Manties would avoid provoking the League, at least at that point, and tried a little gambit to ruin their reputation as a side, by putting their agent (posing as a Manticoran one) on the League's border, promising aid to various LaResistance movements in that restive region. The initial plan is to crush these local uprisings by betraying them and not providing any aid, thus in one blow getting rid of troublemakers, one planet at a time. A secondary objective is that if word ever got out, and the Manticorans ever became aware of the scheme, they assume that the Manticorans would do the logical thing and avoid a direct confrontation with the League and thus fail to provide the promised aid, crippling their reputation among the smaller nations who would also hear about it or anyone who might be inclined to side with them. Unfortunately to them, Mike, when alerted of the scheme by [[SpannerInTheWorks an agent of one of the rebellions contacting her independently]], takes the news and runs with it, ordering all admirals and commodores of her station to give all the advertised aid against the League, and more if possible. Then her cousin the Queen, who by the time was also sick and tired of pussyfooting around the Sollies, and seeing the advantage Manticore had over the enormous [[SoLastSeason but laughingly obsolete militarily]] League because of Manticore's crushing technical superiority, decided to Hell with that and supported her relative to the hilt.
203* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': When Caesar Flickerman asks Katniss exactly when she first [[spoiler:fell for Peeta]], she's evasive at first (since at this point [[spoiler:she hasn't actually fallen for him [[BecomingTheMask yet]]]]) and then immediately goes along with his first guess.
204* In ''Literature/DaveBarrySleptHere'', after mistaking a local tribe for Indians, UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus winds up his "historic conversation" with their chief this way:
205-->'''Columbus:''' Listen, we have spent many weeks looking for India in these three storm-tossed vomit-encrusted ships, and [[GunboatDiplomacy we have cannons pointing at your wigwams]], and we say you are Indians.\
206'''Tribal Chief:''' B'nomi kawa saki! ("Welcome to India!")
207* A subtle examples appears in ''Literature/TheInvisibleMan''. At one point Griffin, the titular invisible man, takes refuge with Dr. Kemp, an old university friend, and makes the assumption that Kemp is going to shelter and help him with his plans. Griffin's plans are all quite mad, however, and Kemp -- having clocked that Griffin is neither on the side of the angels nor has all his marbles in the same bag -- has actually summoned the police. This means that a substantial part of their conversation in the latter chapters of the book is essentially Griffin bragging about his experiments and grandiosely making plans for 'their' future efforts, while Kemp is nodding along and every so often looking at his watch to see how much longer he has to wait before the police show up. The pretence gets harder for Kemp the longer Griffin rants on and the more insane and vicious his plans get.
208* ''Literature/TalesOfTheFrogPrincess'': While time-travelling, Emma initially gets mistaken for one of her ancestors' Hazel and Millie's cousins, which she hastily agrees to. However, when Emma ''meets'' said cousins, they clearly don't know who this strange girl is, and are bewildered when she greets them. Once they're alone, Millie sits Emma down and says they need to have a talk about this. Emma panics, wondering if she should just tell Millie the truth or come up with some lie, when Millie suddenly says she knows Emma's secret, and understands perfectly -- Emma's a bastard child, and Millie's uncle forced his wife to take her in and raise her alongside her own children. Millie's aunt and her daughters resent Emma for it, so that's why Emma avoids them. Emma quickly assures Millie that, yes, of ''course'' that would be the explanation.
209* ''Literature/TheHeartsWeSold'': At the climax, it's revealed that [[spoiler:the demons are actually [[WizardsFromOuterSpace aliens who came to Earth after their homeworld was destroyed]]. Thanks to their apparently magical abilities and otherworldly nature, humans labelled them demons, and they decided to just roll with it.]]
210* In ''Literature/TheHollowBoy'', Lucy Carlise volunteers to accompany George Cubbins on his research for the first time ever because her other choice is spending time with Lockwood & Co's new secretary, Holly Munro, whom she can't stand. At one point, George says that he knows why it is that she's coming along, and that she needs to be careful because "Lockwood isn't pleased." Lucy says that she doesn't think that Lockwood has any right to object, seeing as she didn't ask for this, and George replies that Lockwood didn't either, to which Lucy shoots back "He hired her." George is puzzled for a moment, then says that what he's talking about is her fascination with the ghost on the particular case they're working on, and asks what she was talking about. At this, she replies "Oh, yes. Yes, the same. That's why I'm here with you. I want to know the story."
211* ''Literature/CormoranStrikeNovels''
212** Cormoran has long given up trying to correct people who mispronounce his name as "[[AccidentalMisnaming Cameron]]" since as a detective it makes for a more cooperative witness for him to just go with the flow. In one instance in ''Literature/CareerOfEvil'' he actually gives his name as "Cameron" to a subject that he suspects wouldn't be able to grasp his real name.
213** For that matter, Strike often finds it be a good practice in general to go with something an interview suspect puts out there, as they're often more cooperative if they think they're being believed.
214* In ''Literature/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'', [[KnightTemplarBigBrother Tatsuya]] sees someone sabotaging his sister's casting device [[note]]which could be potentially fatal[[/note]] and attacks them, demanding to know who they're working for. At this point, the local authorities come over and tell Tatsuya that they'll take care of things and there's no need for him to...restrain...the saboteur. They know that Tatsuya fully intended to ''kill'' him, (and Tatsuya knows they know that) but the sabotage matter is more important right now.
215* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheMayors": When Terminus gives the surrounding kingdoms aid in the form of advanced technology, Salvor Hardin notices the people insist on viewing it as sorcery. He makes a few modifications, and spreads the aid [[ScamReligion under the guise of divine power]].
216* In the second ''Literature/{{Nevermoor}}'' book, Morrigan raises suspicion by refusing to tell anyone else what her "knack" is. The truth is that she's a Wundersmith, which have a ''very'' bad rep. Professor Mildmay, whose knack is making extremely accurate and detailed maps, tells her he's figured it out... her knack is a BoringButPractical one like his, so she's embarrassed to admit it in front of some of her flashier, more impressive peers. No worries, he completely understands! Morrigan uncomfortably plays along with this.
217* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'': The protagonist finds herself doing this from time to time after going thought the noblity variant of AdoptedIntoRoyalty:
218** One of the protagonist's bouts of GivingRadioToTheRomans is "inventing" educational materials that her coverup noble biological mother, Elvira, at some point buys for her "biological" brother, Cornelius. Around the same time, the protagonist's most BookDumb retainer, Angelica, risks failing WizardingSchool unless she gets better grades and she's getting help from both Cornelius and the protagonist. The work done by Cornelius to help Angelica gets mistaken for the educational materials doing what they were meant to do by Elvira, who mentions it during a tea party that includes the protagonist and serveral potential new buyers. Between the educational materials having actually worked on other children and too many people knowing of Angelica's difficulties being a big deal, the protagonist decides to no correct Elvira.
219** During the TimeSkip, a poorly worded note from the protagonist intended to ask WizardingSchool-age nobles to collect stories there gets mistaken for a request to gather more general information. The recepients of the note go for information that is much more useful to school life than stories. So many other people find use of the collected information and praise her for the idea that the protagonist just goes ahead and pretends it was, indeed, what she wanted.
220** Some time after managing to recreate a high-end Italian reastaurant, the protagonist manages to organize a light-entourage meal there for a high-ranking noble under the cover of a business meeting with commoner merchants. Several years later, one of the merchants fondly remembers the meal as proof that the guest of honor is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure more willing to listen to what commoners have to say than most nobles. The protagonist decides to keep quiet the fact that the high-ranking noble was just ''really'' curious about the Italian restaurant, but the rift between commoners and nobles meant he couldn't visit the place without having an official reason.
221* In ''Scat'' (by Creator/CarlHiaasen), TheDragon is planning to pose as a septic tank inspector to plant evidence and frame Duane Scrod Jr. for an arson that the dragon committed. When he knocks on the door, Duane Sr. asks if he's there about unpaid taxes. Deciding that this is a better cover story, he says that he is. This gets him physically assaulted, as there's no lost love between Duane Sr. and the IRS.
222* ''Literature/JaineAustenMysteries'': What effectively kicked off the murder in "The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies". [[spoiler:Clyde Wilkins spent his life as a pipe fitter, given the nickname "Doc" for being such a smooth operator with the ladies.[[note]]Well, the operator part is true enough, but Jaine argues he isn't smooth.[[/note]] When he first arrived at Tampa Vistas, he introduced himself to a woman with his nickname. With a nickname like "Doc", the woman assumed he used to be a doctor. Clyde was going to admit he wasn't but kept up the ruse when he got plenty of attention from the ladies. Then Preston came along and everything went to Hell.]]
223* ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'': In the ''Literature/NewSeriesAdventures'' novel ''Touched by an Angel'', the Eleventh Doctor, who wears a tweed jacket and a bowtie, sincerely asks his companions if they think he could go undercover at a university. He looks like ''such'' a stereotype that Amy says the problem would be passing as somone who goes to university in the 1990s rather than 1950s, to which Rory suggests he could say he's with the maths department.
224-->"Good. Good. Because that is the ''cool'' department, and I look ''cool''! Right?"\
225"Exactly," giggled Amy. "And for ''no other reason''." [[CoughSnarkCough She then put her hand over her mouth and made a cough that sounded like "geek!"]]
226* ''Literature/SergeStorms'': In ''When Elves Attack'', Serge tells Coleman that City and Country are only making out because City is horny, never has sex with Serge, and her only other option is the unappealing Coleman. Coleman interprets this as them wanting to put on a GirlOnGirlIsHot show for his benefit, and Serge halfheartedly tells him to keep thinking that.
227* In ''Literature/ThereWasNoSecretEvilFightingOrganization'', Kaburagi is about to explain who built a mysterious cavern when Mikyou interjects that ''of course'' it was the "hoomans", a species of yeti-like cryptids that only conspiracy theorists believe in. She's wrong, but the guy who's actually [[TrumanShowPlot orchestrating events]] appreciates her creativity and adds a hooman(-shaped puppet) sighting to the itinerary.
228[[/folder]]
229
230[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
231* ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'': Taken to its logical conclusion in "A Bliss Girl" when Mr. Humphries [[DisguisedInDrag puts on heels and a wig to model a ladies' coat.]] Then [[DirtyOldMan Young Mr. Grace]] shows up and ...
232-->'''Young Mr. Grace:''' Do you have a boyfriend?\
233'''Mr. Humphries:''' Not at the moment.\
234'''Young Mr. Grace:''' I've got a table at Romano’s with caviar and snapper dinner. Care to join me?\
235'''Mr. Humphries:''' Well, it is Monday and me mother’s only got cottage pie!\
236'''Young Mr Grace:''' Well, that settles it!
237* In ''Series/BarneyMiller'' Harris tells a worried couple that their daughter hasn't been coerced with drugs into converting to Hinduism; he could see by his experience. Barney tries to clarify by saying that Harris, as a police officer, has dealt with many ''suspects'' who are high... right? Harris' response is a shrug and a casual "Okay."
238* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'',
239** "The Love Car Displacement":
240--->'''Howard:''' Sorry. I just never figured that a guy like me going out with a girl like you would ever have to compete with a guy like that.\
241'''Bernadette:''' Wait a minute, a girl like me? What's that mean?\
242'''Howard:''' I'm... I...\
243'''Bernadette:''' Are you saying you don't think I'm hot enough to go out with a guy like Glenn?\
244'''Howard:''' No! No, I’m saying exactly the opposite.\
245'''Bernadette:''' I'm too hot to go out with a guy like Glenn?\
246'''Howard:''' Yeah, let's go with that.
247** When Penny asks Sheldon why he is doing Howard's laundry in Season 5 Episode 21.
248--->'''Penny:''' Why are you washing Howard's man panties?\
249'''Sheldon:''' Because if I don't, he won't give my paper to Stephen Hawking. He's a famous physicist who...\
250'''Penny:''' Yeah, yeah, I know. He's the wheelchair dude who invented time.\
251'''Sheldon:''' That's close enough.
252* ''Series/{{Bizaardvark}}'':
253-->'''Amelia:''' Frankie Wong and Paige ''(pauses)'' Wong.\
254'''Paige Olvera:''' Sure, let's go with that.
255* In the ''Series/BreakingBad'' episode "[[Recap/BreakingBadS1E2TheCatsInTheBag The Cat's in the Bag]]", Skyler, Walt's wife, sees him hanging out with smalltime drug-pusher Jesse Pinkman and assumes that Jesse is dealing Walt marijuana for medical reasons. Walt decides to run with the idea, as it's a fair bit more acceptable than "I'm making meth, he sells it."
256* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E6BandCandy Band Candy]]", Buffy is secretly caring for a BackFromTheDead Angel, telling her mother that she's busing training with Giles, and Giles that she's home with her mother. One night she comes home to find them both comparing notes, so when they accuse Buffy of bunking off to party with her friends she plays along.
257* ''Series/{{Bunkd}}'':
258** When Lou confiscates Tiffany's mobile phone during a conversation with her grandmother, the sound of loud rapid talking in Chinese can be heard. Lou asks if what she's hearing is affectionate and Tiffany responds with the appropriate line. Most likely, it was really angry yelling at Lou for interrupting the phone call.
259** This:
260--->'''Lou:''' So, Emma, what'd you think of your gift?\
261'''Emma:''' I'm speechless.\
262'''Lou:''' Because you loved it so much?\
263'''Emma:''' Yeah, let's go with that.
264* ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'':
265** Subverted in "A Rose For Everafter". Castle has ignored Beckett's warnings about him seeing his ex-girlfriend because she could be a murder suspect and has met her. The next day, Beckett lays into Castle about how he's been going behind her back and refuses to listen to her instructions and orders -- and then readjusts her chair, accusing Castle of sitting it in and adjusting it when she's not around. Castle is momentarily relieved, but eventually his guilt overcomes him and he confesses that he saw his ex-girlfriend. Turns out Beckett knew -- she has surveillance photos -- and the chair thing was just her playing games with him.
266** Played straight a couple of times once [[spoiler:Castle and Beckett start dating]] and they're trying to keep Gates from finding out. [[spoiler:Turns out she knew anyway. She is a cop, after all.]]
267* This happens frequently on ''Series/{{Chuck}}''. His sister says that she knows Chuck's secret, and he panics because he assumes she means the fact that he's a spy, but it turns out that she suspects him of cheating on his girlfriend. His best friend warns him about spies in the store, and he panics because he assumes the spies in question are his handlers, but his friend is really just being melodramatic about the SitcomArchNemesis. This is usually just for quick laughs rather than an extended plot.
268* ''Series/TheCloser'':
269** In one episode, after Brenda uses ObfuscatingStupidity to sabotage another detective's interrogation of a suspect because she wants to be the one to solve the murder, her [[DaChief boss]] suspects there's something she's not telling him. When he guesses that she has info from the FBI, she runs with that.
270** She also does this when Finn and Provenza take control of a crime scene without her permission, Pope yells at her thinking she was the one who ordered them to do so. She goes along with it to figure out what is going on.
271* ''Series/{{Community}}'':
272** In episode [[Recap/CommunityS1E08HomeEconomics "Home Economics"]], Pierce gets angry at Britta's ex boyfriend (whose band he recently joined) about not getting his share of the credit for a song they wrote (an insulting song about Britta caused by the ex's CreatorBreakdown regarding the events in "Social Psychology"). Britta watches their argument from a distance without hearing the words, leading to this exchange:
273--->'''Britta:''' Pierce, did you just defend my honor?\
274'''Pierce:''' Uh... yeah, totally.
275** And again in [[Recap/CommunityS3E05HorrorFictionInSevenSpookySteps "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps"]], when Jeff suggests to Britta that maybe she [[PersonAsVerb Britta-ed]] the test results.
276--->'''Britta:''' Wait. Are people using my name to mean "make a small mistake"?\
277'''Jeff:''' [{{Beat}}] ...Yes.
278* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': Rita thinks Dexter is a heroin addict, which he goes along with to keep from having to explain that he's a serial killer. Later in the season, [[spoiler:Dexter is brought to the station by the FBI after finding his blood slides missing. He assumes that he's been exposed as the [[TheButcher Bay Harbor Butcher]], but in fact the agents are there to protect him because his nemesis Sergeant Doakes is suspected of the murders.]]
279* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
280** In [[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride "The Runaway Bride"]], the Doctor decides to run with Donna's assumption that he's a Martian when he sonics a payphone because it simplifies matters. It also leads the Empress of the Racnoss to underestimate him at the climax of the episode.
281** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E2DinosaursOnASpaceship "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship"]] when Amy chats with Nefertiti:
282--->'''Nefertiti:''' And you, Amy, are you also a queen?\
283'''Amy:''' [{{Beat}}] Yes... yes I am.
284* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': "[[Recap/FireflyE06OurMrsReynolds Our Mrs. Reynolds]]". After Mal kisses TheVamp and is knocked out by her drugged lipstick, Inara finds his prone body, believing him dead, as she's been suspicious of TheVamp for a while. When she realizes he's just unconscious, she's so relieved that she kisses him...and gets knocked out. When the rest of the crew finds and revives them, she claims she slipped and hit her head. Mal comes to the wrong conclusion and Inara lets him labor under the delusion since it saves her from [[CantSpitItOut having to admit the truth]].
285-->'''Mal:''' C'mon, tell the truth: You didn't just trip, did you?\
286'''Inara:''' N-no.\
287'''Mal:''' Well, isn't that somethin'. ''[smirks]'' I ''knew'' you let her kiss you.
288* ''Series/{{Forever|2014}}'': In "Social Engineering" Henry has had two different hackers try to blackmail him by threatening to reveal that his credentials are faked. When Jo pulls him aside and tells him she got a mysterious email suggesting she look into them, Henry thinks the jig is up. It turns out [[spoiler: one of the hackers, whose life he'd saved, created a better fake background for him, but he didn't know about it until Jo told him. He goes along with it readily.]]
289* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'':
290** One episode has Martin and Frasier believing Niles is having a fling with Roz during a family weekend at a cabin. Niles plays along to cover the fact that he's trying to hook Roz up with Donny so Niles can be with Daphne.
291** In "Kisses Sweeter than Wine", Niles prepares to confess that he made a mistake by jealously lying to Daphne about his head contractor Joe being a womanizer, he begins by saying that Joe didn't do any work for a client Niles claimed Joe slept with. A slovenly worker nearby agrees, saying that he's that woman's contractor and she is "one tough broad to satisfy" and he is "the only one who can make her happy" (as a contractor). Daphne thinks those comments are sexual innuendos and that the mistake Niles made was mixing up which contractor was the womanizer rather than making the whole story up. After a brief pause, Niles encourages this idea by saying "[[KavorkaMan [h]ard to believe, isn't it?]]"
292* Occurs loads in ''Series/{{Friends}}''.
293** When Monica and Chandler are looking for a new house, they don't tell anyone for fear that it would upset them. As a result, Phoebe and Rachel see Chandler get into the car of an attractive woman (the real-estate agent), follow them to a house in the suburbs, and conclude that they are having an affair. In this case both Monica and Chandler let Phoebe and Rachel labour under this delusion for half the episode before revealing the truth.
294** Another notable one is when Ross has been practicing telling a story (Joey told him it would get a woman to have sex with him) in front of a video camera. When Rachel walks in, she asks him "Were you just talking to yourself?" He answers, out loud, "That's less embarrassing. Yes, yes I was."
295* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': When Sansa is apprehensive about her upcoming marriage to Tyrion, a dwarf, and having to have sex with him, [[EthicalSlut Margaery]] encourages her to give him a chance and that it never hurts to try something at least once, since she might like it after all.
296-->'''Sansa:''' Did your mother teach you that?\
297''({{beat}})''\
298'''Margaery:''' ''(laughs)'' Yes, sweet girl. My...mother taught me.
299* ''Series/{{Glee}}'':
300-->'''Kurt:''' I'm in love with someone. (stares longingly at Finn)\
301'''Mercedes:''' ''(sees Rachel stand up)'' Rachel?!\
302'''Kurt:''' ...Yes. [[BlatantLies For several years now.]]
303** During Alcohol Awareness Week, the kids have a drunken party at Rachel's, the day before they're scheduled to perform for the school. They do a rehearsal while hungover, and their teacher Will praises them for "pretending" to be drunk. They don't bother to correct him. Later, at the school assembly about the dangers of drinking, they put on a performance of "Tik Tok" which ends with Brittany and Santana puking onstage ("...Everyone drink responsibly."). By this point Will figures out that they are ''not'' acting, and the whole club gets called into Principal Figgins' office. They think they're about to get suspended, but Figgins is thoroughly convinced the whole thing was a staged demonstration of drunken behavior and ''praises'' them. Will and the kids nervously go along with it (though Will does chew them out later).
304* ''Series/GreysAnatomy'', [[WholeEpisodeFlashback "The Time Warp"]]:
305-->'''Alex:''' You look like a cool person, and I need some cool cases...ever since the elevator thing and heart guy[[note]]i.e. "Bring The Pain", when he and George were trapped in an elevator with a heart patient who George ended up saving after Alex wussed out[[/note]], it's just...\
306'''Callie:''' Wait, that was you? You're the heart in the elevator guy?\
307''({{beat}})''\
308'''Alex:''' Sure, let's go with that.
309* ''Series/HannahMontana'' Rico is blackmailing Miley for the majority of the episode claiming to know her secret. Thinking the secret is involving her other life as Hannah Montana, she agrees to meet and discuss terms with him. When he reveals the secret that he knows is that she carries a teddy bear around with her, Miley feigns being upset while being relieved that he knows nothing.
310* In ''Series/{{Haven}}'': Boston detective Tommy Bowen is in Haven, and Nathan realizes he has to tell him about the Troubles or risk more people showing up. Upon hearing Nathan's story, Tommy mentions that he's seen what this job does to cops and how they deal with it. Some turn to drugs, alcohol, or religion, and the ones in Haven blame what they see on the supernatural. He adds that as long as it doesn't effect the case, he's fine with it. Nathan has no reason to correct him, but Tommy later actually sees the Troubles [[SkepticNoLonger firsthand]].
311* ''Series/HenryDanger'': In "Charlotte Gets Ghosted" after Charlotte gets trapped in Schwoz's vacuum cleaner, Henry's family comes in and hears Charlotte inside; because it's not their vacuum, Jake comes to the conclusion the vacuum is haunted. Because Henry can't tell them about his identity as Kid Danger nor the weapons he uses, he discreetly agrees with his dad.
312* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': There's this gem in one episode, when Robin walks in on Ted playing with one of his architectural models.
313-->'''Robin:''' Ted? Are you acting out the last scene of ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle'' with little dolls?\
314'''Ted:''' ...how long have you been standing there?\
315'''Robin:''' Like two seconds.\
316'''Ted:''' Yeah, just the last scene.
317* In the pilot episode of ''Series/IZombie'', Liv has trouble explaining why she knows the identity of the dead Jane Doe when her boss and the newbie homicide detective were just discussing how they haven't had any luck ID'ing her. Obviously, she can't just tell the detective that she's a zombie, and she started working at the morgue so she could eat the brains of the recently deceased people who are brought in for autopsies, and she can sometimes get flashes of memory from those brains.
318-->'''Ravi:''' Liv's kind of... psychic.\
319''({{beat}})''\
320''(cue disbelieving look from the detective)''\
321'''Liv:''' ...ish.
322** To his credit, the detective knows there's more going on than what's being told, although he'd never guess she's actually a zombie.
323* ''Series/JustShootMe'': Overlapping with EmbarrassingCoverup. In "Blackmail Photographer", Maury uses a picture of Elliot with Adrienne (before she and Finch were married, but Finch is insecure about the marriage as it is) to get himself hired. Maury happens to meet astronaut Alan Drake in the office, and asks for a signed picture, saying he loves ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''. When Maury gets fired, he hands the wrong envelope to Finch and doesn't stay to realize he didn't give Finch the picture of Elliot:
324-->'''Finch:''' What the hell?\
325'''Elliot:''' Look, buddy, it was one night of passion, but it's over. I pray to God that it doesn't change our friendship, but if you never look at me the same, I guess I'll understand.\
326'''Finch:''' ''(glances at picture again)'' You slept with Colonel Drake?\
327''(Finch shows Elliot the picture)''\
328''({{beat}})''\
329'''Elliot:''' Yes. Yes, I did.\
330'''Finch:''' "To my number one... space invader"?\
331'''Elliot:''' ...That's right.\
332'''Finch:''' I'm gonna need a little time with this.\
333'''Elliot:''' So am I.
334* ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'': Ryusei has a FreakOut during a special exam, and his friends think that he only faked it so that he'll have more free time on his hands, thus being available for Zodiarts attacks. Wanting to keep up his stoic image, Ryusei just goes along with their idea...
335-->'''Ryusei:''' I can't admit that I failed because I was freaking out.
336* ''Series/KCUndercover'':
337-->'''Marisa:''' I can't believe your family opened up their hearts and home to such an adorable little girl. Where did you say you were from again? Wyoming?\
338'''Judy:''' Sure, let's go with that.
339* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': [[spoiler:Galadriel meets Sauron under the identity of Halbrand]], a mysterious charming man from the Southlands. She sees he owns a pouch with a bird symbol on it. In Numenor, she discovers that the sign belongs to the royal house of the Southlands, which means Halbrand is their descedant. She confronts Halbrand over it and he confesses he simply found the pouch with the bird on a dead body. Galadriel decides that Halbrand is lying to her because he wants to run away from his own destiny. [[spoiler:Seeing her insistence, Sauron decides to just go along with whatever Galadriel wants to believe for her own convenience.]]
340* ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'': Morgana tells Merlin she'll keep his secret, and Merlin thinks she's talking about him being a sorcerer, but it turns out she thinks he's in love with Gwen.
341* ''Series/MimpiMetropolitan'': In episode 64, two scammers try to scam Pipin by telling her that her sibling is injured. They don't actually know anything about Pipin's family and play along when Pipin asks whether it is her sister Ratih.
342* On ''Series/TheMindyProject'', Mindy and Danny start secretly dating. When Morgan stays at Mindy's house, he finds a pair of male underwear. However, he wrongly assumes that it's Peter's underwear and Peter is the one that Mindy is secretly dating, and tells Jeremy. Later, Mindy and Peter [[OperationJealousy pretend to flirt to make Danny jealous]] (so that he will be willing to make their relationship public), which leads to Morgan and Jeremy confronting Mindy about the consequences of dating a FratBro like Peter and also the fact that it's an OfficeRomance. Danny's reaction to their misguided belief that Peter and Mindy are dating falls into this trope and his reluctance to reveal their relationship causes them to break up.
343* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' is rife with this.
344** The episode featuring ''Film/Werewolf1996'' has Mike descending from the Satellite to Earth to escape.
345--->'''Servo:''' And once you're down there, you'll find help to get ''us'', right?\
346'''Mike:''' ''(long beat)'' Yeah, exactly.
347** The episode featuring ''Film/{{Hobgoblins}}'' had a character hold up a sign that read "HIT".
348--->'''Crow:''' Should add an "S" to it.\
349'''Servo:''' "Hits"?\
350'''Crow:''' (''beat'') Yeah...
351* ''Series/TheNanny'': This is how the whole show starts. After breaking up with her boyfriend and leaving her job at his bridal suite, she starts working as a door-to-door cosmetics salewoman. When she shows up to the Sheffield's home, the butler Niles asks whether she's there for an interview as a nanny, to which she says "I could be...", and after an unusual interview, Maxwell Sheffield hires her [[ClosestThingWeGot because the nanny agency didn't have anybody available at that time]].
352* In ''Series/NoOrdinaryFamily'', when Stephanie's parents visit, Jim's habit of frequently sneaking out to fight crime initially leads to him being MistakenForCheating by Stephanie's father, which leads Jim and Steph to consider telling her parents about their powers. But as they're about to do so, Stephanie's father announces that he's figured out that what Jim's actually been sneaking out to do is help the homeless, so they let him continue believing that.
353* ''Series/OurFlagMeansDeath'': Black Pete, as he's telling his [[BlatantLies totally real]] story about how he saved Blackbeard's life and became his first mate in the process, gets a tad outlandish in his descriptions of both the story and of Blackbeard himself, leading to this exchange:
354--> '''Stede Bonnet:''' Wait, wait, so you're saying Blackbeard's head... is made of ''smoke?''\
355'''Black Pete:''' ...when he needs it to be.
356* ''Series/PairOfKings'': After a giant spider is destroyed and the Kings got dirtied by it. When Brady asked asked Boomer if that's the reason Boomer said he needed a change of underwear, Boomer hesitated before answering 'Yes'.
357** When Mikayla got stuck with Brady in his body and Lanny in Boomer's (long story), Boomer assumed it was Mikayla making Brady skip like a girl and the trope came into play.
358* Subverted in ''Series/PrisonBreak''. Michael burns his back while wearing a guard uniform for part of his escape plan, and when fibers from it are picked out of his wound, the warden assumes that a guard has been abusing him. However, going along with this would also hinder Michael's plan, so he has to just say he doesn't know what they're talking about.
359** But only until he manages to pin it on Geary, whose removal is beneficial to the plan.
360* ''Series/PushingDaisies'':
361** Olive thinks Chuck faked her own death. In fact, Chuck was really dead and was [[FirstEpisodeResurrection resurrected by the pie maker]].
362** When Olive notices that Chuck and Ned never touch each other:
363--->'''Olive:''' Do you have some sort of deadly food allergy to Ned?\
364'''Chuck:''' I'm going to say yes.
365* In "[[Recap/ResidentAlienS1E8EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt End of the World As We Know It]]" from ''Series/ResidentAlien'', Harry tells Asta that he's been searching for something he lost up on the mountain, referring to his device, which if activated will kill all humans. She asks what he means, "Like, a radio to phone home?" "How did you guess?" he replies. She explains that all they know of aliens comes from movies, so it's either a radio or he's there to kill everyone and eat them. He replies that his species doesn't eat humans, allowing her to continue to believe that it's a radio.
366* ''Series/TheRiseOfPhoenixes'': Zhi Wei thinks Ning Yi wants her to spy on Zi Yan. He actually wants her to go to Qingming Academy for her safety, but he pretends her idea was his plan all along. Then Zhi Wei figures out the real reason, but Ning Yi continues to insist he wants her to be a spy.
367* In an episode of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', Sabrina is trying to retrieve a magical duplicator box she accidentally sold to Mr. Kraft (who is using it to duplicate a lot of gold bars). However, Sabrina is having a magical crisis that is causing parts of her body to rot (long story), which happens in front of Mr. Kraft (but heals at that point as well). Mr Kraft accuses her of being... a space alien. Sabrina says "OK!" and turns into an armored humanoid alien, congratulates Kraft on recognizing her despite having "taken the form" of one of his students, and orders him to return "their" box and give ALL the gold to charity (threatening him with "[[AnalProbing the probe]]" when he's reluctant to comply).
368* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'':
369** Bryan Cranston reprised his ''Series/BreakingBad'' role as Walter White in a sketch in which Walter had been appointed head of the DEA by President-elect Trump.
370--->'''Jake Tapper:''' Mr. White, how did you even get considered for this job? Do you know Donald Trump?\
371'''Walter White:''' No. Nope. But I'm a big fan, I like his style, he acts first and then asks questions later. I also like that wall he wants to build. Nothing comes in from Mexico, meaning, a lot less competition for the rest of us.\
372'''Jake Tapper:''' You mean jobs?\
373'''Walter White:''' ''[brief chuckle]'' Sure.
374** When Creator/GalGadot was host, in one sketch she played a Bosnian woman on a date with OJ Simpson. Because of her country's civil war in the 90's, she completely missed the media circus that was his murder trial and had no idea who he was, which he played to his advantage. When people at the restaurant made negative remarks towards him, she was appalled and asked OJ if they hated him because he was black. He replied, "Uh...Yes."
375* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', when the Janitor and Dr. Cox get into a fight about the dispensation of a high-quality patient's room, each wanting it for himself...
376-->'''Dr. Cox:''' There really is only one way to end this.\
377'''Janitor:''' We each ingest a cyanide capsule, on three. One, two, three. ''(gulp)''\
378'''Dr. Cox:''' No! What are you ''doing?''\
379'''Janitor:''' Mine's a skittle.\
380'''Dr. Cox:''' ...Mine too?\
381''({{beat}})''\
382'''Janitor:''' ..Sure.
383* In an episode of ''Series/SesameStreet'', Papa Bear and Mama Bear welcome a second cub. Baby Bear goes to meet her and wants to know her name, but their parents haven't thought of one. Baby Bear checks the new cub out a bit, quietly remarking that she's "a little curly bear". He is overheard, and Papa and Mama name the new cub Curly.
384* ''Series/{{Skins}}'': Naomi and Emily have danced around each other for the entire season. They are at a party, both being three sheets into the wind.
385-->'''Naomi:''' ''[motioning between the bottles in her hand]'' So, what do you want?\
386'''Emily:''' ''[completely mesmerized by her]'' Anything. Just give me a fucking...Just.. Just give me a...''[leans over and kisses her; Naomi shows absolutely no resistance]''\
387'''Naomi:''' Oh... ''[her denial catches up with her libido]'' It's only the drugs, right?\
388'''Emily:''' ...Sure. \
389''[the two start to make out like crazy]''
390* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E4MirrorMirror Mirror, Mirror]]", "Captain's Woman" Marlena notices that Kirk is acting oddly. Kirk gives her an [[DoubleMeaning ambiguous explanation]] and lets her interpret it to mean that he's planning to take over the Empire.
391* A variation occurs in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E23IBorg I, Borg]]". When the eponymous drone, Hugh, first meets Picard, he recognizes him as [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E26S4E1TheBestOfBothWorlds Locutus of Borg]]. Picard decides to play along, expecting that if he thinks he's talking to another member of the collective, Hugh will prove Picard's suspicions about him correct. What Hugh does instead [[WhamLine shocks him]].
392* ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' episode "The Engagement" has a psychologist named Dr. Rider (played by Eugene Levy) evaluate Mimi for her lawsuit against the store. When he says that he finds Mimi fascinating, Mimi interprets it as flirting with her. Dr. Rider then says that he doesn't date patients. When she asks if it was because he took an oath, he responds, "OK."
393* ''Series/TheThinBlueLine'' episode "Honey Trap" featured Detective Inspector Derek Grim and Inspector Raymond Fowler using Constable Maggie Habib as a Honey Trap to capture a criminal. Fowler's girlfriend, Sergeant Patricia Dawkins, thought that he and Maggie were having an affair. In retaliation, Dawkins broke something valuable to Fowler, who claimed it represented all the values he stands for. She then replied he doesn't stand for any and mentions knowing what he and Maggie are doing. Wrongly believing she figured out about the Honey Trap, he comments about it, revealing to her the truth. She then let him think he was right, and he tells her he agrees with her reaction.
394* ''Series/That70sShow'' tends to have this occur every now and then:
395** During Season 4, when he and Donna [[spoiler:are broken up]], Eric goes to pick her up from the radio station she works at to escort her to the school dance as a friend. Though once he shows up, Donna is ecstatic that he showed up, assuming he came to save or keep her safe from the tornado that was going on at the time. Eric initially plays along with the assumption, though he is visibly nervous to realize that there was a tornado going on when he finds out about it from her. She finds out later that he never knew about the tornado but forgives him for lying.
396** When Hyde and Kelso are caught by Jackie, Red, and Kitty at the Burkhart family ski lodge when the latter three arrive to move out the furniture, Jackie assumes that Hyde arrived to help her. Hyde, being Jackie's boyfriend, plays into it. Unfortunately, Fez, arrives with the beer they planned on drinking and the boys are caught red-handed.
397** After returning home from having been stripped naked by a group of feminists who mistook his make-out session with Donna as an attempted rape or assault, Eric is assumed to have had his body hair shaved off by Hyde's father. Eric, who is often mocked by his friends and his father for his lack of manly qualities, visibly pauses before saying, "Yes... they did."
398** When Kelso and Fez arrive in a quality apartment, they are denied rental by the landlord, Fenton, whom Fez has an [[NoodleIncident largely unknown but bad past with.]] When they make to leave, Kelso offhandedly mentions raising his daughter (with a woman he once slept with) in the apartment. Fenton assumes that the fact that two young men are raising a baby girl in an apartment signifies that they're gay and, as [[CampGay an implicitly proud homosexual man himself]], is willing to renegotiate. While Kelso and Fez never hear about this, Red is in the room when Fenton states his assumption and, amused by it, plays into it to help Kelso and Fez move into the apartment so he doesn't have to put up with them as much, with the two none the wiser about Red's negotiation.
399[[/folder]]
400
401[[folder:Music]]
402* The famously [[SurrealMusicVideo bizarre music video]] for Music/Front242's [[https://youtu.be/m1cRGVaJF7Y Headhunter]] was a result of this trope. A misunderstanding of the lyrics and some crossed wires between the band and director Creator/AntonCorbijn resulted in the everpresent image of eggs. The band decided that they liked it this way.
403[[/folder]]
404
405[[folder:Radio]]
406* In ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'', when a clueless man is making the preparations to hold his wedding at what is very obviously Castle Dracula, TheRenfield (who is named Igor) keeps doing this. [[spoiler:It turns out the "groom" is actually the Count doing a practice run, and he complains Igor is making it obvious.]]
407-->'''Groom:''' Tell me, does that organ still play?\
408'''Igor:''' Oh, yes. In fact it usually...\
409''(opening bars of Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor)''\
410'''Igor:''' There we are.\
411'''Groom:''' Wow. You have an organist on permanent standby?\
412'''Igor:''' I... suppose we must do, yes. Now, a couple of things. It's very important you don't use any Christian music or, you know, symbols of any kind during the service.\
413'''Groom:''' Ah, because you're only licensed for secular services.\
414'''Igor:''' ...Yes, that'll be it. Also, for the reception, we're only licensed for... non-garlicky meals.
415[[/folder]]
416
417[[folder:Theatre]]
418* After having to prove he didn't embezzle from the Treasury by revealing his extramarital affair, the title character of ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' asks if Jefferson, Madison, and Burr will keep the secret, to which Burr ambiguously says "[[ArcWords No-one else was in the room where it happened]]." (Understandably not reassured even after demanding a concrete answer, Hamilton decides to reveal it all himself.)
419-->'''Hamilton:''' Is that a yes?\
420'''Jefferson, Madison, & Burr:''' Uh... yes.
421* In ''Theatre/CactusFlower'', Julian has to agree with Toni's suspicion that the embarrassing secret about Stephanie is that she's a nymphomaniac, because he [[UnConfession couldn't confess the simple truth to her]] about Stephanie not being married to him.
422* The following exchange from ''Theatre/TheDrowsyChaperone'':
423-->'''Chaperone:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Me. No. Bride.]] Perhaps I can take a message.\
424'''Adolpho:''' Yes, yes, very good... Dear Van De Graaf Bride. I must make love to you, and transport you to place of ecstasy, sooner is better, signed Adolpho, King of Romance.\
425'''Chaperone:''' [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe Well, well, you saw through my little ruse]].
426* The ''Theatre/MrsHawking'' play series: In ''[[https://vimeo.com/160645455 Vivat Regina]]'', Nathaniel, desperate to keep the secretary to the German ambassador from entering her offices during a party which Mrs. Hawking is casing, remarks that he's only there to support the classical singer that's being feted. The secretary excitedly asks "You are a devotee of the German opera?" After a moment, Nathaniel declares "Why, ''yes''!" and goes on about Wagner, even though it's clear he's making things up as he goes. It's the first sign of his skills as TheFace on the team.
427* In ''Theatre/AnythingGoes'', Billy Crocker is mistaken for Public Enemy Number 1, Snake Eyes Johnson. However, instead of arresting him, the celebrity cruise line, which had been suffering a lack of celebrities, hails him as a hero. Not wanting to be left out, Billy's criminal friend Moonface Martin (Public Enemy #14) tries to reveal his own public enemy status.
428-->'''Moon:''' I'm Moonface Martin! I'm a public enemy, too.\
429'''Crowd:''' Public Enemy Number 2?!\
430'''Moon:''' ...Yes.
431[[/folder]]
432
433[[folder:Stand-up Comedy]]
434* One of Jeff Dunham's earlier opening routines has him talk about how his Peanut puppet set off an airport contraband swab scanner after reading as plastic explosives. The TSA guy suggests that the scanner might have confused lotion for explosives, and Jeff immediately denies this given the implications[[note]]the TSA guy had swabbed Peanut's butt for the test[[/note]], cheerily insisting [[HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday "I've been making bombs in my garage!"]]
435[[/folder]]
436
437[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
438* In one of the first edition ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' sourcebooks, this is the advice given to young Solars who want to use their powers to help people without drawing the attention of the Wyld Hunt. There are many ways to acquire superhuman powers in the setting, and the common people don't know enough to tell them apart, so whatever they guess that your powers come from, tell them that that's exactly it. Are you the son of a god? ''Yes.'' Do you possess an artifact from the First Age? ''Yes.'' Did a sorcerer enhance you with a spell? ''Got it in one.''
439[[/folder]]
440
441[[folder:Video Games]]
442* Ford Cruller of ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' was severely psychologically damaged in an important battle years ago, and becomes scatterbrained, to say the least, when taken away from the large levels of Psitanium located underneath the camp where the game takes place. When he leaves the metal, he takes on split personalities who have no trace of Cruller's intelligence and wherewithal. He tells Raz, the protagonist, that this is because he wants to keep his identity a secret, so he 'pretends' not to recognize Raz. Cruller doesn't reveal the real reason until much later in the game.
443* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' uses this in [[PunchClockHero Hugh's]] recruitment conversation, when he mentions that he needs the money for his grandmother, Roy immediately asks if she's sick. "Uh, yeah, really sick". He later mentions that "she gets really bad headaches around her back" as an "example of the pain" that she suffers from. Roy suspects that something's up, but doesn't press the issue.
444** [[spoiler:Hilariously enough, you eventually recruit his grandmother 3-4 levels later. And no, she doesn't have any illnesses: on the contrary, she's a healthy and very potent Druid.]]
445* In ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', the player character often comes across people who are either a bit kooky, have a bit of a misguided view of the world as it was / is or are quite crazy. In the dialogue options, there's usually at least one which enables the player character to politely humour the NPC in order to enable the conversation to progress. There's also usually an [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential option]] for the player character to simply [[{{Jerkass}} bluntly and rudely point out how crazy the NPC is]].
446* In ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'', making Mike play along with the crazy is the best way to curry favour with resident completely insane ConspiracyTheorist Steven Heck.
447* In the Netherbattle Tournament DLC for ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'', [[AmbiguouslyGay Fenrich]] encounters an imaginary Tyrant Valvatorez created from his "intense desires." Hearing this, Fenrich starts thinking out loud and realizes that if this Valvatorez is a figment of his imagination, then he could do ''anything'' Fenrich wanted, even something like-
448-->'''Imaginary Valvatorez:''' Correct! I will win this tournament and rule the Netherworld, if that is your wish!\
449'''Fenrich:''' ''[{{beat}}, then {{sweatdrop}}]'' [[BlatantLies Y-Yes, my lord! It is!]]
450* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has a variant of this when Neo tries to start an EscortMission.
451-->'''Old herbalist:''' ''[sees Neo standing silently in front of him]'' Is it my time?\
452'''Neo:''' ''[confused]'' What, just like that?\
453'''Old herbalist:''' You are a demon, and I accept my fate.\
454'''Neo:''' ''[more confused]'' ''Demon''? Why do you keep calling me a demon?\
455'''Old herbalist:''' A demon that does not think it is a demon, you are very odd.\
456'''Neo:''' ''[gives a FascinatingEyebrow]'' Oh, whatever, we'll go out the back.
457* During their pursuit of the [[MacGuffin Tidal Crystal]] in ''VideoGame/SonicBoom: Rise of Lyric'' (as seen in the E3 demos), Amy volunteers to accompany Sonic while Tails and Knuckles head back, or so she suggests. Knuckles takes offense to her taking charge... [[ByNoIMeanYes only to suggest the exact same strategem the very next sentence]].
458-->'''Sonic:''' You win this round, Knuckles. Amy, let's go.
459* In ''VideoGame/EternalSonata'', when the party is supposed take care of the "ghosts" underneath the Mandolin Church, Allegretto decides to jet and fetch Polka, his crush who is currently separated from the party. Viola suggests that the reason he's leaving is because he's scared of ghosts, and he happily seizes on that excuse, stating that he never told anyone before, but he's super-scared of ghosts.
460* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' has an example that's only noticeable in hindsight (or if you've fallen victim to LateArrivalSpoiler, since ''Falcom'' doesn't bother to hide it anymore). At the start of Chapter 2 of FC, Scherazard confronts the CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Olivier, claiming she knows full well who he ''really'' is and that there's no point in hiding it: he's an [[TheEmpire Erebonian]] [[TheMole operative]]. He gives in and say she's right. [[spoiler:He's really much, ''much'' more than that: he's ''the prince of Erebonia''.]]
461* In Chapter 2 of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'', Emma uses her [[WrongContextMagic special brand of magic]] to heal a wound Rean got while jumping in to protect Jusis and Machias from a monster they thought they had all taken down. Later, Rean comments on how amazingly well his shoulder feels, asking Emma if she used some special sort of medicine. She starts to say that she didn't, then... "I-I mean, yes, I did! I used a special kind of medicine I brought with me from back home. My grandmother made it by combining a number of medicinal herbs together, I believe..." Later, in Chapter 6, she recognizes the barrier sealing the party inside Lohengrin Castle, saying that she's always had a sixth sense about these sorts of things. Jusis mentions that adherents of the Septian Church have often been said to have strange powers and asks if she's with the church. She at first says that it's kind of the opposite, but then backtracks and says "You've got me! I've always been a big supporter of the church." Also, at one point, Sara has to leave for a while to help Toval with some bracer work, leading the students of Class VII to quip about her having a hot date. When she returns, Rean discovers her muttering about all the work that Toval gave her and asks her how her "hot date" went. Sara is at first confused, but then seizes upon what Rean just gave her, saying that it was great, with plenty of action.
462-->'''Rean:''' Yeah, I want to believe it, but somehow I don't think so.
463* In ''VideoGame/HometownStory'', one of the story arcs involves a foreign girl named Lamisa being found on the town's beach and staying with the person who found her while gradually learning the local language. The very last scene relating to her reveals that she did this [[spoiler:regarding her name. It's not her name, which she never bothered to correct once her grasp on the local language got better, but her native language's word for "thank you"]].
464* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', any dealings you have with [[EvilSorcerer Mistress]] [[AxeCrazy Therana]] will involve this. The other [[{{Magocracy}} Telvanni councilors]] note that "[[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld she hasn't aged well]]," and getting anything out of her requires you to play along with whatever insane story she is telling at the moment.
465* In ''[[VideoGame/BlasterMaster Blaster Master Zero]]'', Jason asks Eve what she knows about the mutants. She pauses for a second and then replies that the database on the [[TankGoodness Sophia the 3rd]] doesn't call them "mutants", but sure. She then enthusiastically uses all the names Jason has like "Mutant Lord" for the enemies for the rest of the game. What, is she going to hurt their feelings?
466* This is a big premise in ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry6ShapeUpOrSlipOut''. Shallow Larry Laffer goes for the ultimate pursuit of Shamarra Payne, who is a beautiful and rich guest staying at the same hotel. She states that despite being rich, successful, and happy, she lacks purpose in her life. As Larry presents various gifts to her, she concludes that each gift must be Larry's way of teaching her something about life: An orchid refers to the uniqueness of nature, a diamond means that whatever pressure she has is forming her into something beautiful, etc. Larry is by no means a deep thinker, but does not correct her since all he wants to do is sleep with her and these insights don't seem to jeopardize that.
467* In ''Spandex Force: Superhero U'' Calculatron states that he's planned his entire educational path up to [[BreakingTheFourthWall level 50]], as well as what super powers to choose.
468-->'''Player character:''' Isn't that a bit...\
469'''Calculatron:''' Neat and orderly? Planned? Precise?\
470'''Player character:''' Um...yes, let's go with that.
471* Not long into ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'', Otto Octavius catches Peter trying to fix his damaged Spider-Man suit, and is stunned to realize that his lab assistant is... Spidey's gadget guy. Peter goes along with this. [[spoiler:During the climax, however, Otto reveals he knows the truth, so either he worked it out or was only ever sparing Peter's feelings.]]
472* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': [[spoiler: Queen Nia]] informs the party of the location of the BigBad's base of operations, but admits to having no idea how to actually get there. After a EurekaMoment, the protagonists figure it out for themselves, and assume that [[spoiler: the Queen]] must've been [[SecretTestOfCharacter testing their ingenuity and character]] to make sure they were ready for the challenges ahead. [[spoiler: Needless to say, Nia]] doesn't bother correcting them.
473-->'''Sena:''' You knew we'd be coming back though, right? It's all part of your grand design, yeah? "The future must be sculpted with one's own hands." Something like that?\
474''[Beat]''\
475'''[[spoiler:Queen Nia]]:''' R-right, certainly. The future isn't something you can just be given. You do have to reach for it with your own hands. Yes.
476* ''VideoGame/IdolManager'': One possible event consists of a fan reporting getting help from one of the idols on social media, but the idol not remembering the incident, to an extent that she suspects MistakenIdentity. Two of the possible reactions are to not communicate at all or have the idol pretend it was, indeed, her.
477* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has several questlines that include the player doing this, and a few times when {{NPC}}s do this to the player. One questline involves the player dealing with a delusional knight who believes he is helping "maidens" and fighting "monsters". He is actually fighting low-level dinosaurs, and not being terribly helpful to the people he comes across, none of whom really qualify as "maidens".
478* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': In one of Caster Cu Chulainn's battle quotes (after his animation update), he starts to say "witness the truth of the runes Scathatch taught me... sure, let's go with that." It turns out to be {{Foreshadowing}}, combined with Scathatch noticing that he's indeed using different tricks from what he taught him; [[spoiler:he picked up his tricks from Odin, for whom he serves as an EmissaryFromTheDivine.]]
479* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Tidus is pulled from his home of Zanarkand to Spira by the monster Sin. When he talks about the Zanarkand he knows, the native people considered him crazy. To thim, Zanarkand is an ancient ruin, not the sprawling metropolis described to them. When Tidus mentions having been near Sin, Wakka believes that's why he's ignorant of Spira and talking nonsense; Sin produces a toxin that badly disorients people until it wears off. It becomes Tidus' go-to excuse for when he reveals how ignorant of the world he is to hide his true nature.
480[[/folder]]
481
482[[folder:Visual Novels]]
483* In ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'', Tomoya's modus operandi as a trickster mostly consists of simply not correcting the misunderstandings of others, but going along with their incorrect suspicions, ("Yeah, this is ''exactly'' what it looks like!"), and watching as HilarityEnsues.
484* Oryou Sonozaki acts this way regarding the family reputation in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry''. Although the Sonozakis are yakuza, they haven't done any of the stuff people- including their heirs- think they have. They just take advantage of the gossip to look tough. It's a very nasty deconstruction as this is [[spoiler:indirectly responsible for many of the cycles of death and madness.]]
485* In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll'', Case 4, this is what happens if Phoenix presents the profile of [[spoiler:"John Doe" to his client. He knowingly plays along with Phoenix's misinformation about Doe's identity - i.e. that he's merely a [[TheButlerDidIt butler]]]].
486* In the third case of ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', Trucy notices an odd coincidence where the crime seems to match up to the lyrics of Klavier's new song, "The Guitar Serenade," and proposes that the killer is intentionally mimicking said lyrics. Shortly afterwards, the body is moved to a raised platform along with a guitar, which matches the last part of the song and further supports Trucy's theory. Unbeknownst to everyone, [[spoiler:Trucy first brought this theory up in front of the real killer, who hadn't planned the crime that way at all, but was happy to go along with it because it covered up the true sequence of events and gave him an airtight alibi.]]
487* Used in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', when Issei comes over, and wonders why Saber is there.
488* In ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'', Yuri comments that she has awful backaches, and starts to explain why. Before she can say it, she trails off, but her embarrassed expression indicates that she was probably about to say it's because of her [[DCupDistress large bust size]]. After an awkward pause, the main character says it's probably because she has poor posture, to which Yuri hastily agrees. (Amusingly, it's unclear whether the main character is [[InnocentInaccurate genuinely clueless]], or just letting Yuri off the hook with an alternate, less embarrassing explanation.)
489* ''VisualNovel/IkemenSengoku'':
490** The main character says this trope name word-for-word in Hideyoshi's route when she absentmindedly pats a sleepy Hideyoshi's head and he bemusedly asks her if she's copying his head-patting habit with her.
491** When Mitsuhide starts spending every waking moment of his time with the female main character in his route, people start assuming that they've become a couple. The main character is dismayed by this misconception, but Mitsuhide goes along with it because it'll divert others away from the real reason they've begun spending all their time together: namely, that [[spoiler:the main character overheard Mitsuhide talking about betraying his lord Nobunaga and he's making sure she doesn't get a chance to tell anyone about it]].
492* ''VisualNovel/C14Dating'': This trope gets played around with when it comes to dealing with an accidental ForcedOutOfTheCloset moment. In-game context and the wording used make it so that it's technically possible to understand the statement accidentally outing a third party as something else entirely. From an audience perspective, Melissa makes it sound like she misunderstood, which allows the person who let the information slip to pretend that the misunderstood information was what they meant and get out of the conversation gracefully. Once this happens, Melissa turns out to have actually understood the information correctly and to have pretended otherwise for the other person's sake. This causes the trope to have a subversion that doubles as a reveal that it was invoked.
493[[/folder]]
494
495[[folder:Web Animation]]
496* Chargesdotcomdotbr had a story arc titled "My Girl", where a young man was dating a woman who was [=MtF=] transgender. The young man's mother, who used to be friends with her when she identified as male, told the now her to end the relationship. When she learned she's now wealthy, she decided to ask for a DNA test. The young man didn't understand. When a friend of his came up with a crazy theory regarding aliens, his other friends decided to invoke the trope.
497* In ''WebAnimation/HunterTheParenting'', Big D's response to Kitten assuming [[SpikedBlood he got hopped up on DMT prior to a hunt in case a vampire tried draining him]] is
498-->''THAT IS DEFINITELY WHY I DID THAT!!'
499* During the ''Black Templars'' podcast episode of ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', High Marshal Helbrecht eventually seems to figure out that the Centurion is in fact a disguised Rogal Dorn, his chapter's long-lost primarch and someone the entire chapter would be utterly desperate to have back. He very pointedly does ''not'' call Dorn out on this, reasoning that Dorn must be keeping himself hidden for a reason.
500-->'''Helbrecht:''' Thank you, friendly centurion. I would ask you your name, but.... I assume it is not yet time.
501* This exchange from ''Halo vs. VideoGame/CounterStrike'':
502-->'''Master Chief:''' Well, since this is your last life and all, I guess I won't be seeing you around.\
503'''Counter-terrorist:''' Hey! M-my gun's pointed at you too!\
504'''Master Chief:''' Yeah... But I have an overshield.\
505'''Counter-terrorist:''' Oh yeah? Well... uh... This gun has armor piercing rounds in it!\
506'''Master Chief:''' Really?\
507'''Counter-terrorist:''' Yeah... yeah... Let's go with that.
508* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', Yang, Jaune and Ren are stuck in an outpost outside Atlas and, as Yang is trying to fix up a hovercraft, asks Jaune if 'she' would be upset with her if she saw her as she was now. Jaune, thinking that Yang is referring to Ruby and their recent spat, reassures her that Ruby would still love and care for her no matter what. However, Yang replies with a "Yeah... ''Ruby''..." in a tone that suggests that she's not referring to Ruby, but someone else, most likely ''Blake''. Jaune does get the tone and backs down.
509[[/folder]]
510
511[[folder:Webcomics]]
512* ''Webcomic/BatmanWayneFamilyAdventures'': Batman shows up to Justice League HQ with his leg in a cast, which leads to the other superheroes speculating on how he was injured. By the time Superman and Wonder Woman ask Batman directly, [[GossipEvolution they've heard that]] the Joker hired Riddler and Bane to feed him to Killer Croc. Batman responds by afirming the rumor rather than admit the embarrassing truth that he accidentally fell down some stairs at home.
513* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
514** George [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1142 is]] [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-09-20 hostile]] to Justin's friend Elliot right off the bat and [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1193 doesn't let up]] on getting the truth from Justin about [[spoiler:the recent magical goings-on (which involved Elliot)]]...[[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2011-03-21 until he finds out]] that Elliot is ''not'', in fact, Justin's boyfriend. Suddenly he's a lot less belligerent, and perfectly willing to admit that Justin has a point and the issue is kind of complex. Contextual clues suggest [[StraightGay there may be a different reason for this]] than [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2011-06-23 the one he ends up admitting to]]:
515--->'''Justin:''' Did my having a boyfriend just make you so uncomfortable that you got extra defensive about everything?\
516'''George:''' ...Yes. I have learned a valuable lesson about friendship and acceptance and will never do it again.
517** Much later, when Greg comments that Elliot should cut his hair, Elliot [[DiscussedTrope asks if it's]] “because an anime protagonist [[ExpositoryHairstyleChange might change their hair to symbolize their growth?]]”
518--->'''Greg:''' ...sure, let's go with that.
519** While out on a date with Ellen, [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2011-08-29 Nanase runs into]] a StereotypicalNerd who happens to be one of the many boys she dated before realizing she was a lesbian.
520--->'''Gary:''' Oh, I'm terribly sorry! I didn't mean to be rude, it's just I used to think you didn't want to go on a second date with me because I was too geeky.\
521[BeatPanel]\
522'''Nanase:''' Yes. It was entirely because I am a lesbian.
523** In the "So a Date at the Mall" arc, [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2015-11-09 Diane states]] that Elliot couldn't possibly be the Cheerleadra because he was on the phone with Ellen while Cheerleadra was talking to the griffin. Ellen hastily agrees, not mentioning that it was actually [[https://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=2089 Ashley using Elliot's phone.]]
524** In the non-canon ''EGS: NP'' story "Ellen Demo", the narration box [[https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/2017-07-07-ellen-demo-21 explains]] that, like the TF Gun, Ellen's transformation beams don't actually enchant Grace, but automatically trigger her natural shapeshifting ability, which in turn gives her the ability to consciously take those forms later. Grace's reaction is "''Wait''. Am I a ''Franchise/MegaMan''?" and the narration box says "Sure, why not."
525** In the canon ''EGS: NP'' strip "Who is Ellen? Part 2", Ellen is running a pre-written RPG but, following an incident where the ''entire party'' unexpectedly need healing after they all roll {{CriticalFailure}}s on a flight of stairs [[EpicFail while leaving the quest-giver's mansion]], invents a random cleric to give them all a mercy heal and re-rail the plot, handwaving it by saying he's a just friend of the quest-giver who happened to be there. The group, however, find the presence of this "random" cleric, when the crime they're investigating only took place because a guard ''just happened'' to be sick, to be highly suspicious, and Ellen, deciding that this is a ''much'' better idea than the villain being some rando who took advantage of a guard ''actually'' just happening to be sick that day, immediately [[https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/wie-069 adjusts the story to fit the players' theory]].
526** When Hope [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/hope-013 knows Justin's name]] despite them never meeting before, she goes along with his suggestion that it's due to the recent mysterious event causing people to recognize strangers and not know why, rather than the truth that it's [[spoiler:due to memories carried over from her prior incarnation, Pandora]].
527* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', in [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20030903 this]] example when Theo is telling the younger students a story about the Heterodyne Boys he made up on the spot. Also a meta-AscendedFanon.
528* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' does it [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0597.html here]], after what was supposed to be a BadassBoast:
529-->'''[[SquishyWizard Vaarsuvius]]:''' Oh, forget it. It would take longer to make you understand than it would to research the next spell.\
530'''[[QuirkyBard Elan]]:''' Wait -- are you saying that you're going to research the spell "Haste" if I don't distract you anymore?\
531'''Vaarsuvius:''' Yes, that is it exactly. You have perfectly gleaned my true intentions, well done. Have a cookie.
532** An [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0041.html earlier one]]:
533--->'''Roy:''' Too bad you froze Elan by accident.\
534'''Vaarsuvius:''' Accident...yes. Of course. By accident.
535** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0149.html Here,]] Redcloak is told he can become Supreme Leader of the hobgoblins through KlingonPromotion. He immediately kills the hobgoblin he's talking to, under the assumption that was the Supreme Leader.
536--->'''Xykon:''' Hey, you over there. That guy WAS your Supreme Leader, right?\
537''(Hobgoblin is wearing the Headdress of Supreme Leadership, the Shiny Gold Amulet of Supreme Leadership, and holding the Scepter of Supreme Leadership)''\
538'''Hobgoblin:''' [[KnowWhenToFoldEm Yes. Yes he was.]]
539* ''Webcomic/LeastICouldDo: [[SpinoffBabies Beginnings]]''.
540-->'''Kid Rayne:''' Take me to the barbecue, I was learning about fire.\
541'''Mr. Summers:''' For a school project?\
542'''Kid Rayne:''' Okay.
543* In ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' Gary thinks he lost his blanket while sleepwalking. Zii, not ready to tell Gary what really happened goes for the "Sure, Why Not?" line.
544* Dr. Schlock tries to use this trope in [[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/020605 this]] ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' strip. It doesn't work.
545* Done frantically by Hannelore of ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1077 here]], when Sven reveals that his cat has been barfing due to a bug.
546-->'''Faye:''' Wow, he landed right in the laundry hamper. Nice aim.\
547'''Hannelore:''' Aim. Right.
548* In 2015 in ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'', Harold flies into Carnivore Summer Camp to rescue Jess after she was captured by another predator camper's drone. When he arrives, he thinks they were alerted by his flapping, when it reality it was [[{{Gasshole}} his natural foul odor since he's a herbivorous bird]].
549-->'''Harold:''' Was it the flapping of my wings that alerted you to my presence?\
550'''Harcourt:''' Let's go with that, sure.
551** Another instance in 2017, when Coney and Tree are talking:
552--->'''Tree:''' I'll be sort of a living baby monitor.\
553'''Coney:''' Wow, that'll be a whole new role for you, won't it?\
554'''Tree:''' Sure. Let's go with that.
555* Combined with LetThemDieHappy in a ''Webcomic/HijinksEnsue'' where the characters are erased from time as part of a one-off gag. Elijah thinks this means that they'll end up in a better future, like the ending of ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'', and Joel doesn't have the heart to tell him that's not what's about to happen.
556-->'''Joel:''' No, it's... yeah, sure, thats what happens.
557* In one of Paul Gadizkowski's ''King Arthur in Time and Space'' comics that preceded ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'', [[http://members.iglou.com/scarfman/95091016.htm Pelleas tells Gawaine]] that he now understands the point Gawaine was making when he [[http://members.iglou.com/scarfman/84061115.htm offered to seduce the Lady Ettarde "on Pelleas's behalf"]]; that a woman who could be won that way wasn't worth having. Gawaine says nothing in response to this, then says to Nimue "Well, if the lad wants to believe I'm that clever, why should I say him nay?"
558* ''Webcomic/ForestHill'' Kaleb overhears his mother Flora having sex with Colin, and thinks they were just bouncing on the bed, which she does not deny. Benni is not fooled, but does not say anything until later when Kaleb isn't around, and this is a good thing, because [[spoiler:he thought that Colin and Flora were having sex with Colin's daughter, Tanya.]]
559* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': Lalli's attitude towards Emil coming to the conclusion that their SharingABody situation is a SanitySlippage induced case of HearingVoices. Considering that Lalli himself seems to be bemused by the situation and Emil has been believing in magic for less than twenty-four hours at that point, it's probably for the best.
560* In ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'', shortly after Undine's experienced the tragic loss of her MagicalGirl team, she meets Heartful Punch, who hasn't heard and responds to Undine's shock to that fact by asking if they broke up. Undine goes with that, adding that she'd rather not talk about it. Heartful Punch doesn't press and invites Undine to go monster hunting with her. Undine, grateful that, for once, someone isn't walking on eggshells around her, accepts.
561* ''Webcomic/CarryOn'': In [[http://www.hirezfox.com/km/co/d/20180709.html this page]], Songween's Captain, [[MeaningfulName Azkikkia]] is introducing her subordinates.
562-->'''Azkikkia:''' "And this [Hyena with dreadlocks] is Dixie."\
563'''Kathy:''' "-- she's from the south?"\
564'''Azkikkia:''' Yyyeah. We'll go with that."
565* ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'' has a zombie named Dan Franklin, who happens to look a bit like [[Creator/BenjaminFranklin Benjamin]], and is continually correcting people on this point. By "Purple Waves", he's given up.
566-->'''Marcie:''' No way! Zombie Ben Franklin!\
567'''Dan:''' ...yes. Go with that.
568[[/folder]]
569
570[[folder:Web Original]]
571* In ''WebVideo/BleachSAbridged'', when Ichigo first meets the Old Man in his mindscape, he assumes the guy is the spirit of his Zanpakuto, Zangetsu. After a moment of shock, he adopts that identity and prevents the Inner Hollow from correcting Ichigo.
572* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'':
573** Whenever Future Trunks has to deal with [[IdiotHero Goku]], his default response is to just roll with whatever he says instead of bothering to correct him.
574** In Episode 43, Krillin and Gohan detect Cell as a bit of each of the fighters his DNA is comprised of. Which Gohan describes as everyone [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg except Yamcha]]. Yamcha reasons [[ComicallyMissingThePoint that's because he's right here]]. Krillin responds with this.
575* In ''Podcast/TheThrillingAdventureHour'' episode "Basil's Day", a father bring his daughter to Frank and Sadie Doyle to cure her of demonic possession. The first thing the Doyles do after realizing the problem is take the child to their bedroom and tie her to their bed so she can not harm herself or others.
576-->'''Basil:''' Ropes on the bed? Do you do a lot of exorcisms?\
577''({{beat}})''\
578'''Sadie:''' Uh...\
579'''Frank:''' Sure...
580* In ''WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries'', Bing first sees a camera in Lizzie's room as she and Jane are shooting a recorded letter for Charlotte. When he walks on her recording for the vlog later, he assumes it's another recorded letter, and she plays along.
581* In WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's review of ''Film/Supergirl1984'', he points out that several scenes would be very suggestive out of context (and sometimes even ''in'' context), causing him to believe the screenwriter accidentally submitted the script of a porno and the producers took it at face value, and the writer went with it for the sake of his job. This becomes a RunningJoke throughout the review.
582-->'''Producer:''' It says here two men fondle her skirt and then she blows them. [Beat] With her super breath?\
583'''Writer:''' Yes! Yes, that's exactly what I mean!
584* ''WebVideo/ShipwreckedComedy'': From the end of "The Case of the Gilded Lily":
585-->'''Wilhelmina:''' "[Here's] to finding out the blackmailer was just [[spoiler:my kind, loving husband who'd never do anything to hurt me."]]\
586'''Ford:''' ''[beat]'' Okay.
587* In Creator/DavidFSandberg's video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzNS4U_aE28 "The Problem Solving of Filmmaking"]], he describes how the majority of making a movie is just solving problems that pop up during filming. He gives a specific example from his film ''Film/Shazam2019'', that Darla is slower putting on her shoes than the rest of the foster family purely because of real-life reasons, not in-story reasons.[[note]]Specifically, Sandberg had three of the kids step outside here, specifically because he needed them in their winter coats, because they'd go immediately from this scene to a cave and then an outdoor fair where they'd spend the rest of the movie. But Darla's actor wasn't available when they were filming the exterior scene, so to explain her absence Sandberg added the brief indoor scene where Darla's still putting her shoes on as her siblings come back inside.[[/note]] He notes that this realization throws a wrench in film analysis, that without real behind-the-scenes knowledge, it's impossible to tell the difference between an the filmmaker's intentional plan and [[RealLifeWritesThePlot real life writing the plot]]:
588-->'''Generic video essayist:''' In ''Shazam!'', Darla has a clearly defined arc. Early on, we see her being the slowest of the foster kids, which is of course the setup to the payoff of her getting super-speed powers later on.\
589'''David Sandberg:''' ''[beat]'' Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. ''Yes.''
590[[/folder]]
591
592[[folder:Real Life]]
593* This is a good tactic to use when you're running a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' game: if the players figure out something and they're wrong, but it wouldn't do any harm to change things so that they're right, just go with it: it's no extra work for you and makes your players feel clever for "working it out". In his ''Pyramid'' column, Creator/KennethHite once described an ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'' campaign in which he completely rewrote the villainous conspiracy, because the one the players ''thought'' they'd discovered was better.
594* Creator/ChuckPalahniuk tells the story of a time he was on a plane and the flight attendant said he'd figured out that ''Literature/FightClub'' was really about a group of guys watching two men have sex in a bath house. Pahlaniuk said his response was "Yeah, sure, why not?" Guy gave him free drinks for the rest of the flight.
595* This tends to crop up on the Website/NotAlwaysRight blog when the stupidity of the various customers has gotten the employee in question so bewildered[=/=]annoyed[=/=]{{Mind Screw}}ed that they just want to get the person out of the shop as quickly as possible.
596** Particularly savvy employees will play along with the crazy customer to soothe their (often completely irrational) fears. [[https://notalwaysright.com/needs-to-chill-out/76441/ One example]] is convincing a ConspiracyTheorist customer that there are no surveillance drones in her refrigerator. They're only in refrigerators that are much more expensive than the one she has. The ConspiracyTheorist believes this completely and thanks the employee for the "help"!
597** Also [[https://notalwaysright.com/working-off-the-clock/63729/ this]] lighthearted example, where an employee informs technical support that a previously reported technical problem was no longer present, expressing uncertainty as to whether the technician had fixed it or if the error had just resolved itself. The technician's reply is almost word-for-word the trope name.[[note]]Most modern operating systems (since Mac OS 9 and Windows 2000) have the ability to sync its time with an atomic clock on the internet at regular intervals, while Unix [=OSes=], owing to their often mission-critical nature, has had the feature for ''decades.''[[/note]]
598* This is a tactic emergency personnel and police are increasingly being encouraged to use when dealing with people having delusions due to mental illness/other issues affecting their perception of reality to get them to cooperate if you have to bring them in for their own/other's safety. A classic one is if someone believes they are being hunted by the MilkmanConspiracy to offer to bring them to a "safe" place where they won't be harmed, usually the hospital, and to provide someone, usually a police officer, to "guard" them at the hospital itself, which establishes a sense of trust. There are however limits to this, such as not saying you see something someone is hallucinating, and your own safety should never be compromised in the process.
599* [[http://www.dw.com/en/bus-stops-at-old-peoples-homes-take-patients-for-a-ride/a-3394237 Some old peoples' homes]] have started putting up fake bus stops so dementia patients can satisfy their need to "get away" or "go home" (even if they haven't lived in or even visited the place they're talking about for twenty years). Due to the deterioration of the brain that comes with dementia and Alzheimer's disease, nurses and other hospital workers find it difficult to reason with them, so they just direct them towards one of these fake bus stops so they can wait for a bus that will never come. Some wait for hours, then give up, saying they must have missed the bus and will try again later, though others will forget why they came here in the first place and let the nurse lead them back to their room. Almost of all them, however, report feeling more satisfied and generally happier, simply because they were able to go out and do something proactive, even if that something will be completely forgotten the next day. The creator of this fake bus stop program says that ''"The sense that they have the freedom to do what they feel they need to do is very soothing to patients."''
600** There's a nursing home in the Netherlands set up like a ''small village'', complete with stores, restaurants, a movie theater, and a hair salon, for this exact purpose. The entire point is to provide a homey atmosphere that allows the patients to live a normal life while still receiving the care they need.
601* The naming of the racehorce [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potoooooooo Potoooooooo.]] From the article, "Pot-8-Os acquired the strange spelling of his nickname through a transliteration error, when a stable lad was asked to write the original name, "Potatoes", on a feed bin. The lad's version, Potoooooooo, was said to [[ActuallyPrettyFunny amuse his lordship]] so he kept it." This horse went on to be a champion and is an ancestor of most modern Thoroughbreds (which is why The Other Wiki has an article about the animal).
602* This, ultimately, was how UsefulNotes/EastGermany ended up reacting to the government decree that the borders would be open. They had meant for refugees only (i.e. people leaving and never coming back), and referred mostly to the East/West Germany border. At the press conference, an ill prepared functionary failed to stress these points and was asked by a western journalist if the Berlin Wall was to be opened immediately. The press secretary, not being fully briefed, invoked this trope as a response. Cue thousands of people showing up at the checkpoints demanding to be let through. Cue the end of East Germany a short time later.
603* One comic from ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' dubbed a stegosaur's tail spikes the Thagomizer, "after the late Thag Simmons". Paleontologists realized that the arrangement of spikes didn't actually have an official name, so they [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thagomizer adopted the term]].
604* This is essentially why we have Command Gold rather than Command Green in ''Franchise/StarTrek''. The actual color of the Command Branch (Kirk, Sulu, Chekov) tunics was intended to be a lime green (possibly along with the blue and red to evoke the three primary colors of the cathode-ray tube), but due to studio lights interacting with the velour fabric and the inconsistent color timing, it showed up instead as a bright gold. Later productions decided not to even fight the perception and retconned the color as to always having been gold.
605* When young [[UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant Hiram Ulysses Grant]] applied to West Point, the congressman sponsoring him mistook his middle name for his first and mother's maiden name (Simpson) for his middle initial. Grant later tried to correct the error, but the name stuck when he realized it would require a new appointment at the academy.
606* This how the "NORAD Tracks Santa" program came about. In 1955, a Sears store in Colorado Springs ran an ad in the local paper, saying that kids could call a phone number on Christmas Eve to have Santa's position around the world relayed to them. But, due to a misprint, the kids ended up accidentally calling the watch center of the Continental Air Defense Command (NORAD's predecessor). The senior watch officer initially thought it was a prank, but as more kids kept calling in, he decided to just roll with it. Now it's annual tradition.
607* There's a long-standing belief that [[MustStateIfYoureACop undercover police officers have to identify as such when asked]] in order to avoid entrapment in criminal cases. This is completely untrue; cops have the legal right to lie about their identities if it helps maintain their cover. This misguided belief comes from a misunderstanding of what legally constitiutes entrapment in court. To elaborate: entrapment is when a cop (or other law enforcement officer) induces another person into committing a crime when this person would have been unlikely to commit the crime had the cop not approached them. That being said, cops are in no hurry to correct people on this, since it helps with their job. If you ask an undercover cop to self-identify as such, they'll just say "No, I'm not a cop" and leave it at that. Not only does it ease the tension, but it allows this fake fact to keep spreading, and thus keep helping the cops.
608[[/folder]]

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